Inafune on the Japanese gaming industry, says “companies need to start looking outside of the box”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments
Keiji Inafune has been very outspoken about the state of the Japanese gaming industry over the past few years. While the situation has been improving, Inafune still believes that companies in Japan could go about things in a better way.
He told GameSpot in a recent interview:
Japanese creators and Japanese companies need to start looking outside of the box. They can’t just stay inside Japan and make their own game and bring it to E3 and hope it will be a hit. That’s not going to happen. You have to work with foreigner companies, in North America, Europe, and other places around the world so there’s a new taste coming into your game.
The language barrier is always there, that’s not going to change. But, if you always stay away from the world market, just because of that, you’re not going to evolve. So, the next thing is that people should get out more and see outside of Japan more. You can’t just stay inside, hoping that your game will be a success around the world. That’s not going to happen.
More: interview, Keiji Inafune
Why Rare wasn’t too interested in making another core Banjo game after Tooie
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
Rare created Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, but the team never went on to develop a third platformer in the series for the N64. Some may wonder why.
Speaking with Kotaku, Grant Kirkhope indicated that it came down to fatigue. While Rare did go on to make Donkey Kong 64, they were a bit tired when it came to making 3D platformers, and Rare didn’t do too much else in that space.
As Kirkhope explained:
“I think with Tooie we were tired of it at that point. We’d done two games, and, if you do continual sequels—Rare didn’t like to do that—we didn’t want to do another Banjo game. And that’s why it kind of ended there.”
More: Banjo-Kazooie, Grant Kirkhope, interview, Rare
Wii Fit Trainer amiibo reappearing at some GameStop stores
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments
GameStop is starting to restock the Wii Fit Trainer amiibo at some of its stores. It’s not available at every area, but you can see if a local location has it in stock here. Good luck, and happy amiibo hunting!
Tower Record Cafes in Tokyo get a limited time Super Mario makeover
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Images | 1 Comment
Nintendo has partnered with Tower Record Cafes in Tokyo for three Mario-themed cafes. These limited time cafes will only be paying homage to the famous plumber until early next month.
Hit up the gallery below for a bunch of photos. Even more images can be found at the source link below.
More: Japan
The Cat Mario Show – episode 14 (Europe)
Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments
A brand new episode of The Cat Mario Show is now live in the European eShop! You can check out episode 14 of it below:
More: Europe, The Cat Mario Show
Photos of the Club Nintendo Zelda 3DS XL pouch
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Images | 3 Comments
Club Nintendo users are starting to receive the Zelda 3DS XL pouch that was included as one of the membership service’s final reward options. Photos are posted in the gallery below.
More: Club Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda
Takahashi on Xenoblade X, next game in development, wants Monolith Soft to grow, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 36 Comments
GamesBeat has published a fairly lengthy interview with Monolith Soft’s Tetsuya Takahashi. Takahashi talked about Xenoblade Chronicles X in-depth, confirmed that his next title is in the works, expressed interest in expanding Monolith Soft, and more.
We have a good chuck of the interview rounded up below. The full discussion can be read here.
On being anxious about getting Xenoblade Chronicles X out in North America…
Takahashi: Yeah, although there’s still quite a lot left for us to do. We’ve announced a release date and everything, but all we can see is a looming deadline.
On how Xenoblade Chronicles X is a deliberate successor, and if Takahashi wanted to make the story more closely grounded to reality…
Takahashi: The simplest answer, probably, is that I felt like, after working on a fantasy setting, it might be nice to try something new. Science fiction is a great change of pace. It’s a really interesting flavor.
On the challenge in bringing an RPG franchise to HD for the first time…
Takahashi: Probably the biggest challenge for us comes in the planning stage, where we have to think about how we’re going to use these limited resources — I’m talking mostly about time on the schedule — to create all the assets in such a huge world. What order do we need to take tasks in to accomplish them all in the most efficient way? There’s a lot of tech that goes into expressing the open world concept as well, making sure that it’s a seamless experience from one end to the other. That’s probably the biggest challenge.
Update: Report incorrect – CNET: Nintendo World Championships to return next year
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 14 Comments
Update: Bumped to the top. CNET’s article has been updated, and their report seems to have been incorrect. See below.
A previous version of this story said Nintendo plans to hold its World Championship next year. This is incorrect; Nintendo has yet to say whether it plans to hold another World Championship in the future.
According to a report from CNET, the Nintendo World Championships will once again be held next year. The outlet apparently heard about these plans straight from Nintendo. There’s no denying that this year’s success was a massive success, so it makes sense to host the NWC in 2016.
Rumor: Nintendo wouldn’t let Yarn Yoshi amiibo be held at E3 due to fears of the NFC chip coming off
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 5 Comments
The Yarn Yoshi amiibo were on display at this year’s E3. That being said, Nintendo didn’t allow attendees to either hold them or see the bottom of the plushies.
That may seem strange, but there’s a method behind the madness. Supposedly, Nintendo was worried that an attendee would remove the NFC chip, or it would fall out on its own. That’s because the NFC chip is apparently sewn into the yarn.
More: Amiibo
Tanabe on lack of Mario Bros. 2 support in Super Mario Maker, wants to revisit the title
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 15 Comments
Super Mario Maker has support for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U. But what about Super Mario Bros. 2?
Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe addressed this while speaking with USgamer at E3 last week, in which he stated:
“Super Mario Bros. 2, as you know, when we created that game in Japan, it didn’t have Mario as the main character Probably because of that, it’s been overlooked for Super Mario Maker. I didn’t talk to Mr. (Takashi) Tezuka at all about it, actually. It does seem sort of unfortunate.”
Tanabe did give a bit of hope for the future, as he seemed to show some interest in something like a Super Mario Bros. 2-style version of Mario Maker. “If I ever have the chance, yes, it would be interesting to work on something like that,” he said.
